Sister’s fury at gardai over missing Esra

They’ve told me it isn’t a search any more, it’s a recovery... how dare they claim she’s dead with no proof

Berna Fidan, sister of missing woman, Esra Uryun pictured outsider her former home in Collinstown, West Dublin , the last place Esra was seen alive (Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin)

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Esra Uyrun disappeared three years ago today but her heartbroken sister hasn’t given up hope of discovering what happened to her.

Berna Fidan has visited Ireland 17 times since mum of one Esra went missing a few days before her 39th birthday.

Each trip has been torture for the brave Londoner of Turkish origin, who feels she is “fighting a losing battle”. But Berna has vowed to never stop seeking answers.

She told the Irish Sunday Mirror she was disappointed to find out gardai have stopped actively searching for her beautiful sister.

Berna said: “They’ve actually told me it is not a search anymore, it is a recovery and I have to come to terms with that.

“My response was, ‘How dare they? What proof have they got that she’s dead for it to be a recovery’?”

Berna is worried her sister’s case is being treated in a similar manner to that of tragic Elaine O’Hara, whose body was discovered last September by a woman out walking her dog.

Architect Graham Dwyer is due to be tried for the murder of the childcare worker.

Esra with son Emin

Berna added: “It is shocking that they come out and say something like this to me. What right have they to say that to me? I said that to the [head officer].

“And I told him, ‘Just because you found Elaine O’Hara in a field somewhere and someone came across her body, is that what you’re expecting with Esra?’

“‘Or is that what you’re telling me that’s happened to her? You’re just waiting for somebody to come across her?’

“He couldn’t say anything, he just repeated, ‘The searches have been done and we’ve had no response, we are looking at Esra’s recovery’. I was so angry.”

Esra left home in Clondalkin, West Co Dublin, to go to shopping on the morning of February 23, 2011, but never returned.

Her car was later found in a car park at the seafront in Bray, Co Wicklow.

Today her grieving sister Berna is putting up posters of Esra near the estate where she used to live.

The local residents and shopkeepers are so used to seeing her around the area, they recognise her and come up to greet her.

When the Irish Sunday Mirror caught up with her, Berna was meeting up with Stacey McKenna, who has moved into Esra’s former home.

Berna said: “Bless Stacey, every time I come over she invites me in and she’ll ask for posters.

“She takes some, she’s even got one stuck in the front room on the wall. But I just can’t go in the house.

“The very first time I met her, she got me in and it was so hard being there now there is no trace of Esra at all.

“There is nothing of hers here anymore, not since her husband Ozgur moved back to London with their son Emin.

“But I pick up the mail – we still get letters addressed to Esra and I have to reply to the people sending them, telling them she is missing.”

Berna Fidan, sister of missing woman, Esra Uryun pictured receiving post from the current resident , Stacy McKenna outsider her former home in Collinstown, West Dublin , the last place Esra was seen alive

Esra’s little boy is just five-and-a-half years old and has very few memories of his mother other than those he was told.

Berna revealed: “Every day he looks more like his mother and it’s just heartbreaking.

“When you ask him, ‘Where is your mum?’ Emin turns around and says what he’s been told, ‘Oh mummy went to the shop and she got lost’.

“He was only two-and-a-half years old when she went missing. It’s just such a pity because Emin was Esra’s world, she doted on him.

“He was her only child, she had him later on in life, she wanted a baby so much.

“Now if you ask him if he’s missing mummy, he just turns around and walks away.”

Channel 4 will next month screen a documentary entitled Missing, which will feature Esra.

Anyone with information about the missing mum is asked to contact Ronanstown Garda station 01 6667700, Bray Garda station 01 6665300 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.